


The Moon is Beautiful

by noyaspeach



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, i'll be updating the tags with each chapter!, mentions of hinata's mom, more of the cast WILL be showing up as the fic continues lol, publishing au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:13:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22486900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noyaspeach/pseuds/noyaspeach
Summary: After transferring to the Karasuno Books Tokyo location and becoming the new assistant editor in the building, Nishinoya finds himself working with the editor to one of the biggest romance authors in the industry, Hirano Youta. He's thrilled! Maybe this could jump-start his journey to becoming a star mangaka! Well, there's one thing: No one actually knows Hirano-sensei's identity. He writes under a pseudonym and no one's ever met him in person. That is, until Nishinoya inadvertently moves into his same apartment building.
Relationships: Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu
Comments: 15
Kudos: 39





	1. The Way We Live Now

**Author's Note:**

> _We are like books. We hold our own stories, from actions to thrillers to romance. Our covers are clean and sleek and weathered and colorful and simple. We come in different shapes and sizes and lengths. But what we all have in common is that we are all waiting for someone to find us see what’s inside._
> 
> _Some of us are easier to decipher than others. Some people are exactly the kind of story that their cover suggests. Others are a little harder to figure out, though. Those people always make the best books – the books that you pick from the store or the library, going into with such curiosity and intrigue, just wondering what could lie within those delicate pages._
> 
> _To Nishinoya Yuu, Azumane Asahi was one of those books. In a life filled with books, real and metaphorical, none could’ve compared to that which was Asahi._
> 
> _Like any good book, he entered Nishinoya’s life quite unexpectedly._
> 
> * * *
> 
> Welcome to The Moon is Beautiful! If you're curious, this fic is heavily inspired by the k-drama Romance is a Bonus Book (it's where I'm getting 90% of my information about the publishing industry actually) and the anime Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun! It's an idea I've had for a while and I decided to spin it into a sweet Asanoya fic. So, enjoy the first chapter!
> 
> (Also, the title is based on the Natsume Sōseki quote about how he advised a student to use "The moon is beautiful" to mean "I love you." This quote's also a very big theme in Romance is a Bonus Book so I'm... really not slick lol)

Nishinoya wasn’t exactly homeless. “Homeless” would imply that he had nowhere to turn to for shelter, that he was tossed out onto the streets. That wasn’t the case. While his parents were out of the picture after the big move, he certainly had a place he could go. However, he would have much rather actually been homeless than go crawling back to his ex-boyfriend who, at the time, was certainly laughing up a storm at his misfortune.

No, he was in desperate need of a place to stay. After all, how long can one really spend bouncing from overnight spa to overnight spa? In Nishinoya’s case, about two weeks before being referred to a landlady by one of the spa employees. The landlady in question was Hinata-san, a short, middle-aged woman with, frankly, the most well-kept perm he’d ever seen. As he soon came to find out about her, Hinata-san was a single mother to two kids, Shouyo and Natsu, had a passion for baking and pottery, and used to want to pursue a career in musical theater. Hinata-san, along with being quite the chatterbox, was a weirdly persuasive woman and, after finally hearing about Nishinoya’s situation, almost immediately had him signing a lease on one of the available apartments in her building. Upon first viewing it with her, he realized why she was so eager to get someone moved in; the place was cramped with a living room that bled into the kitchen space and a “bedroom” that was hardly more than a bed and a small desk on a loft above the kitchen. Space was certainly limited, but it was nice enough, rent wasn’t too expensive, and, well, he wasn’t exactly in a position to complain. So, Le Palais’s Apartment 203 became his new home.

In contrast to the unusually quick lease-signing process, moving day was a bit more orthodox. He had had enough sense to move what little furniture belonged to him from his ex’s place to a self-storage facility and, with the help of Hinata-san, one moving truck, and two polite movers, the living room was furnished. Furnished with one loveseat and a cheap coffee table, but furnished nonetheless. Hinata-san assured him that she would bring some furniture catalogues she kept for new tenants the next time she came by to check on him.

Aside from the furniture, he had a couple of smaller items in various boxes, though he brought those up himself. The trek up to the second floor was up two flights of stairs and the boxes took a few trips to receive so, by all means, he should’ve been exhausted. However, years of volleyball had prepared him for such physically straining work, and he was quite energetic by nature, so he had no issue with it. Still, the day was warm and, within about 30 minutes, he was splayed out on the loft bed, staring up at the off-white ceiling only six feet above his head. On this hot late-spring day, he wanted nothing more than a glass of lemonade, but he hadn’t done any grocery shopping yet and had absolutely no desire to get out of the house. Maybe ordering food would be a nice moving-in treat. He reached beside him for his phone but only felt smooth duvet. He palmed his jeans next, hoping he had left it in his pockets. He sat up and groaned. _God, where's my phone? Is it in one of the boxes? Did I drop it between the loveseat cushions already? Shit, is it in the moving truck?!_

He begrudgingly stepped down to the lower floor and made his way to the cardboard boxes that had been piling since this morning. Sitting down on the hardwood floor, he began his search with one of the smaller boxes that had earlier housed his books and picture frames. Not long into this search (about five minutes, to be more specific) he decided that asking Hinata-san might be a better first step. After all, she had helped call the movers for him, so she could easily call them back if he had really left his phone in the truck. He turned the knob to the front door and jolted with surprise.

Standing just outside his door was a tall, dark-haired guy, about his age.

“Umm, hello?” He greeted.

“Hi,” the man returned awkwardly. “Hinata-san said you lived in this apartment. You’re the new tenant, yes?” He looked behind Nishinoya into the sparse living room filled with countless boxes.

“Oh, yeah. I am. I’m Nishinoya Yuu,” He offered his hand for the man to shake. “And you are?”

“Azumane Asahi. I live upstairs in Apartment 303.”

“Well, thanks for the dropping by. I’m actually in the middle of looking through all of my stuff right now, so excuse the mess behind me,” he chuckled. “I lost my phone earlier and I was going to ask Hinata-san if she knew where it was.”

“Ah, about that.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out Nishinoya’s phone. “This is it, right? I saw it on the ground by the front gate and brought it to Hinata-san. She didn’t recognize it immediately, so she figured it was yours.”

“Oh wow, thanks! I was starting to wonder if I left it in the moving truck or something. You saved me the trouble of calling and asking.” He glanced at the boxes behind him. “Hey, why don’t I make it up to you? I got some great tea as a housewarming gift from my mom a while back and I’ve been meaning to try it out for a while. I could make some for you if you want.” 

“Thank you, but it doesn’t look like you have anything to prepare it with,” he pointed to the kitchen set-up just to the right of Nishinoya. Looking behind him, he realized Asahi was right – he didn’t have any way of making tea.

“Oh. Maybe once I go shopping this weekend, I can get something to help with that,” he laughed.

“Well, I’ve got a kettle in my apartment if you still want to try some of that tea,” Asahi suggested.

“If you don’t mind!” Nishinoya grinned. Asahi nodded and led the way to his apartment upstairs.

Despite being just a floor above Nishinoya’s, Asahi’s apartment seemed like it belonged to a whole other continent let alone the same building. His was far more spacious than Nishinoya’s, with enough space for an actual dining room area and a bedroom that was an actual separate room! On top of that, it was nicely decorated with various potted plants on shelves and tables and contemporary artwork hung on the walls. While Asahi walked over to the kitchen to begin boiling the tea, Nishinoya admired his surroundings.

“Damn, your place is nice! It’s not often that a guy has an apartment this neat, especially not a single guy.” He continued to look around the room before his words caught up with him. “Assuming you’re single, that is. Not that you don’t seem like you could get a girlfriend! I’m sure you’re perfectly capable of getting anyone you want. Not that you seem easy, either!” He made eye contact with Asahi in the kitchen. “I’ll just shut up.”

For a few moments the (very wide) space between them was dead silent. Then, Asahi snickered.

“You’re funny. There's no need to worry. You’re right, I am single. It’s my choice, though. My past relationships haven’t been all that great and, with the work I’m in, it's better that I stay single.” He sat down at the dining table and Nishinoya joined him.

“Why is that?”

"It just takes up a lot of my time and energy. I figure it’s just easier for me to stay single so I don’t disappoint anyone.” He looked on wistfully.

“Well, does your work make you happy?”

He nodded. “Yeah, it’s fulfilling. I get to make others happy with what I do, so it’s worth it.”

“But are you happy with it?”

He paused to think. “I think that it takes a lot out of me and, while it may be stressful for me and even those around me, it’s ultimately something I’m proud of.”

“Then, no offense to your exes, but I don’t think that’s anything to be disappointed about.” Nishinoya saw the slightest curl of a smile on Asahi’s lips and smiled to himself. “So, what do you do anyways?”

“I’m...” He hesitated. “I’m a freelance writer for different websites.”

“What do you write about?”

“Books mostly. Book reviews are my strong suit, but they’re never too popular,” he said.

“I love books, too! Reading them, talking about them, all of that!”

“Really?”

“Yeah! When I was in junior high, I created and became the president of our school’s book club. I mean, it ended up becoming more of a manga club, but it was fun nonetheless,” he laughed. Asahi did too and Nishinoya could nearly feel the reverberation of it in his own chest. Had his voice been this low the whole time?

“So, what do you do?” He asked.

“Right now I’m an assistant editor, although I really want to be a mangaka someday. Actually, I moved here because I was recently transferred to Karasuno Books’s Tokyo office from the one up in Miyagi.”

“You work for Karasuno Books?”

“Yeah! I honestly feel like I lucked out, getting to be a part of producing such killer books.”

“Yeah, that- that's incredible.” He stuttered. “But then why do you live all the way out here? Karasuno’s about a forty-five-minute bus ride away. Wouldn’t you rather live closer to work?”

“Well, I used to live closer. I used to live with my boyfriend – well, ex-boyfriend now – who lives about ten minutes away from the Karasuno building.” He looked down. “But things didn’t end so well with him, so I moved out. And now I’m here! To be honest, it was the quickest and cheapest option, not that Les Palais isn’t a great building.”

“Oh... I’m sorry to hear that. I hope you enjoy living here, then. If you ever need any help settling in, you know where I’m at.”

“Thanks, Asahi-san.” Just then, the kettle began to whistle, putting a momentary pause on their conversation. Asahi got up to check on the tea, soon returning with two full mugs. Nishinoya cautiously sipped on the hot tea. “So, what should I know about Les Palais? Any gossip? Special tips?”

Asahi thought for a moment. “Well, definitely don’t use the laundromat in the building here. The machines tend to just eat your money and the dryers leave your clothes all damp. There’s a coin laundry about 2 minutes away that I always go to. I could show it to you sometime, if you’d like.” 

"That would be awesome, thanks!”

“Hmm, let’s see. There’s a sweet couple that live right above you in apartment 303, but they can get a little... loud sometimes.” Asahi started to turn pink at the thought. Nishinoya just laughed. “So just be aware of that. I recommend a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones.”

“Noted.”

“Oh, we aren’t really allowed to have pets here. You can maybe get away with a smaller animal like a hamster or a lizard, but no cats or dogs.” 

“Damn. And here I was planning on bringing all four of the little guys here,” Nishinoya sighed.

“W-wait _four?!_ ”

“Yeah, four sweet little pit bull puppies. It’s a shame. Might have to drop ‘em off at a shelter somewhere.”

“Four _pit bulls?_ ” Asahi seemed to go pale. Well, as pale as he could go given his tanned complexion.

Nishinoya grinned. “I’m just messing with you. Don’t worry, I don’t have any pets. I actually used to be pretty scared of dogs, so you won’t see me with ‘em.”

Asahi let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good. Well, it’s not good that you’re scared of dogs. But it’s good that you don’t have any pets.” He took a moment to drink his own tea then. “I think that’s all you really need to know about Les Palais. I’m sure you already looked at the more important rules.” 

“I was supposed to read those?” Asahi’s eyes widened, alarmed. “I’m joking! Again!”

“You joke around a lot, don’t you?” He said, voice tinged with concern. “Well, I guess I’ll get used to it the more I see you around.”

“Oh, you’ll be seeing me more often for sure. Besides Hinata-san, you’re the only person I know here. So, if my sink breaks or something, I’m coming to you.” 

“I think you should call a plumber for something like that...” 

“Nah, that costs money! Why would I do that when I could just call you down?”

“Nishinoya-san, I don’t know the first thing about fixing a sink,” he chuckled.

“Well, built like that, I’m sure you could get the job done.” Nishinoya motioned to Asahi’s figure. There was no doubt he was toned beneath that sweater. Actually, the more Nishinoya looked at him, the more he wondered what he looked like showing a bit more skin.

Asahi blushed. “I could try, maybe.” 

They continued their small talk, nursing their drinks every so often. The minutes flew by and suddenly Nishinoya received a phone call. He quickly answered and, a few uh-huhs and okays later, looked back at Asahi.

“Looks like I’ve gotta head back to mine. I’m getting my wi-fi set up in a few so I should probably be there. Thanks again for the tea and the chat. It was really nice meeting you, Asahi-san.”

“Likewise. Like I said, if you ever need anything you can come to me.”

The two shared a soft smile before Nishinoya left. As he walked downstairs, he reflected on the last thirty minutes. Had it really been that long? Their conversation flowed so smoothly that it felt like such a quick exchange. It was a pleasant conversation, one Nishinoya was grateful for. Aside from his terrible ex, he didn’t know anybody in Tokyo. He assured his parents that he’d be fine in the big city and that he’d acclimate soon enough, but to tell the truth, he was nervous. So, he was thankful that he’d met someone so kind so quickly. Asahi seemed like a real sincere guy and, aside from his worrisome tendencies, Nishinoya was glad they’d hit it off so well.

It was a plus that he was so cute, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading Chapter 1 of The Moon is Beautiful, my largest fanfic to date (or at least, it will be). I have big plans for this fic, and I hope you guys stick around to find out just what they are <3 
> 
> (Chapter title based on: _The Way We Live Now_ by Anthony Trollope)
> 
> Feel free to follow me on  
> Tumblr: noyaspeach.tumblr.com  
> Twitter: @noyaspeach


	2. Great Expectations

Nishinoya looked up at the tall, steel frame of the Karasuno Books building wondering how long it would take for the entire building to topple over. It was so high and skinny and fragile looking. He thought it could fall in about ten seconds with an exceptionally strong gust of wind. All gray, metal, and glass, it seemed cold. And he’d be working there from then on out.

He felt a bit uncomfortable. He was wearing the second suit he’d ever worn. The first was when he organized and attended the funeral for his pet hamster as a kid. It was black and ill-fitting given he was about eight years old and shorter than most store-bought suits accounted for. His mother wanted it to fit him better, she did, but she wasn’t going to spend extra to get a tailored suit for a hamster’s funeral. He never wore the suit after that partly because of its size, partly because of the sad memories it carried with it.

Needless to say, Nishinoya didn’t have much experience wearing suits. They weren’t really his thing. They were stuffy and the material didn’t feel nice. He preferred to wear t-shirts and hoodies and jeans and jerseys, clothes that were easier for moving and breathing. But he had to wear a suit to make a good impression on his first day. I mean, this was Karasuno Books Tokyo, the biggest publishing house in Japan. Working there required some level of professionalism, Nishinoya thought. Better to be safe than sorry, in any case. Nishinoya also took other extra measures in cleaning up. He took a very thorough shower, he brushed his teeth twice, and he gelled his hair back with more care than normal. Looking into the mirror that morning, he hadn’t noticed much of a difference, but he hoped that there was one.

He looked up at the tall company building one last time before he pushed through the front doors and into the lobby. The building technically didn’t belong to just Karasuno Books. It was a multi-story building with the first couple stories belonging to a small café, a bookstore, and a cosmetics shop, and the top few belonging to luxury apartments. The open lobby was adorned with an abundance of chairs, sofas, big paintings, and potted plants. He took a moment to admire his surroundings before bounding up to the front desk. An older woman was sat behind a computer, making a few notes, when Nishinoya approached her.

“Hello. Is there anything I can help you with today?” she said.

“Yes, actually. I’m wondering what floor Karasuno Books is on?”

“Karasuno Books is on floors four through twenty-seven.” She glanced down to his badge. “Is there a specific department you’re looking for?”

“The editorial department.”

“That’ll be on the twentieth through the twenty-seventh floors then.”

_Eight floors for just the editorial department? Damn..._

“Umm, I’m not sure which floor I’m supposed to head to,” Nishinoya said awkwardly.

The woman sighed. “Do you know who you’re working for?”

Nishinoya glanced down at the note he’d written out on his phone. “Sawamura Daichi. I’m the new assistant editor, actually.”

She immediately straightened up then. “Sawamura-san? Well, you should’ve just said so. You’ll be on floor twenty-five.”

“Thank you.” Nishinoya bowed.

The woman just nodded. “No problem, sweetheart. And good luck up there! You’ll need it with him.”

As Nishinoya waited for the elevator to reach the bottom floor, he thought about the woman’s words of advice. He hadn’t spoken much with Sawamura aside from a few emails when he was hired, though he couldn’t gather much about his personality from those. He tried looking him up online to see if there was anything to know about him. On the Karasuno Books website, there were plenty of articles and blog posts made by or featuring him, but those also didn’t give much personal information. After about thirty minutes of searching, Nishinoya started to feel like kind of a creep and dropped it. So, he had little to nothing on Sawamura going into the job. He guessed that it made it easier for him to go in without any preconceived ideas about the guy, but it also made him nervous as all hell. This only got worse with the woman’s last words: _Good luck up there! You’ll need it with him._ Was Sawamura mean? Was he one of those bosses that would get on your ass for the tiniest mistakes? Was he going to go all Miranda Priestly, starring in his own real-life “The Devil Wears Prada?” Or, “The Devil Uses Word,” he supposed.

The elevator arrived then. He and about five other employees stepped in.

“Twenty-five.” The woman at the front of the elevator pressed the button for him. She was taller than him with long, black hair and thin glasses. He watched as she pushed her hair behind her ear and revealed a small beauty mark by her mouth. Her lips shimmered pink with lip gloss. Her cool, gray eyes were shadowed by long eyelashes that seemed to naturally curl nearly to her eyebrows. She was stunning, objectively, and Nishinoya couldn’t help but admire her from his spot in the opposite corner of the elevator. She soon noticed his stares and subtly lifted her left hand. On her ring finger flashed the brilliant diamond of a wedding ring. Nishinoya’s eyes widened in realization and he turned to face forward.

He decided to occupy his brain with other thoughts. He wondered what the office would look like. He’d heard great things about Karasuno Books' building: that it had a large cafeteria for its employees, sleek and sophisticated tech, and even an indoor gym (though, he couldn’t tell if that one was a myth or not). Given the number of floors dedicated to the editorial department alone, he figured the place was spacious. There were bound to be tons of people bustling about, too, though. Whatever. He just hoped he’d have a comfortable chair to nap in during his breaks. At the Miyagi location, he would normally just go home during his breaks since he lived so close. Now that he lived forty-five minutes away from his workplace, though, he knew he could give up on that idea.

He tuned back into his surroundings when he noticed the elevator stop at the twenty-third floor. He watched the woman with the beauty mark walk out, but not before she flashed a small smile. He blushed. _So, she works in editing, huh?_ After his embarrassing encounter with her, he hoped he wouldn’t be seeing her around that day.

Soon he arrived at the twenty-fifth floor. As the elevator doors opened, he immediately observed the sheer amount of tall, white bookcases that towered high in the room. You would think the place was a public library if it weren’t for all the desks littered about. Busy bodies either typed away at their computers or hurried about with papers and files in hand. Everyone had a place to be and a purpose to serve. Nishinoya felt a little out of place, standing by the elevator just watching, until he remembered that he would be one of these busy bodies soon enough.

Noticing Nishinoya’s expression of awe, a man with short, light gray hair came up to him.

“Hi! Are you the new hire?” he asked.

“Yes, I’m Nishinoya Yuu, Sawamura-san's new assistant editor.” 

“Nishinoya-san, yes!” He enthused. “I can take you to Sawamura’s office.”

“That’d be awesome, thanks.” He followed Sugawara as he moved quickly past countless desks and shelves. People hardly noticed them as they walked by, too entranced in their own work to even look up.

“So, how long have you been in publishing, Nishinoya-san?” The man asked.

“Only about two-and-a-half years. I was an editorial assistant at the Miyagi location before this, actually.”

“What did you do there?”

“Uh, well I mostly took messages and ran errands for editors. Sometimes I helped in selecting content, too, but I mostly did smaller things like fact-checking and stuff.”

“Hmm okay. How good’s your writing?”

“I’d say I’m pretty good. I’ve got a Bachelor’s in communications at least.”

“Well, you’ll be doing a lot more writing here than in your last position, so that’s good. How creative are you?”

Nishinoya thought that was a strange question. “Very creative,” he replied. “Any of my friends could tell you I’m always coming up with crazy story ideas - ideas that could be in Shonen Jump.”

The man slowed a bit and gave Nishinoya a grin. His eyes were bright and kind as he looked back. Nishinoya then noticed the beauty mark by his left eye. _Damn. Do all the pretty people at this office have beauty marks?_ “Well, we’re no Shonen Jump, but we are always looking for creative story ideas among our editors.”

“What do you mean?”

“Here in the editorial department, we value what all of our employees have to say about a work. Of course, the senior editor gets the last say in any creative decisions, but we accept input from anyone in the department, even interns. So, if an author needs to make any big changes, those suggestions could come from anybody here.”

“That’s incredible,” Nishinoya awed. At the Miyagi location the most editing he ever did was fixing spelling or grammar errors, so he was surprised to hear what opportunities there were here.

“Right? And since you’re Sawamura’s assistant editor, you’ll have more than a few chances to pitch in to whatever he’s working on. Just, be confident with your ideas. He’s a little stubborn, but if you’re tough, you can get through to him.” 

“Is he... mean or strict?”

“No, not exactly--” They arrived at the translucent doors to a sectioned off room. “Well, we’re here, so you can meet him for yourself. Don't worry, though, I’ll go in with you.”

He pushed open the doors in front of them and stepped inside. Sawamura’s office was neatly and minimally decorated with white and black and the occasional splash of orange. At the far end of the room was a large executive desk with piles of papers inches-high spread about. Sat behind that desk was Sawamura Daichi. He was in the middle of reading a stack of papers a few-hundred pages long.

The man leaned into the room and knocked lightly on the door. “Daichi?”

Sawamura looked up at the two of them. “Good morning, Suga.” He looked over to Nishinoya. “You must be Nishinoya Yuu.” 

“Yes, sir. It’s nice to meet you.” He bowed deeply. Coming back up he saw that Sawamura was stood with his hand out for Nishinoya to shake. He quickly accepted it. “I’m looking forward to working with you from here on out.” 

“Likewise.” Sawamura gave him a polite smile. He had a reassuring appearance, Nishinoya thought. He didn’t exactly seem like a hardass boss type. Not yet, anyways. “Right now I’m taking a look through this new manuscript, but my lunch break starts soon enough. We can talk properly then. Suga, would you mind taking Nishinoya-san around and giving him a tour of the office for me?”

“I don’t know, I am a little busy,” he teased. Sawamura cocked an eyebrow. “But I can make time.”

“Thank you. I’ll be here when you’re done.” He returned to the manuscript.

The man, Suga, motioned for Nishinoya to follow him out of the office. As he closed the door, he noticed Nishinoya’s confused expression. “What’s wrong?”

“You were speaking so casually with Sawamura-san just now.”

“Yeah.”

“He’s a senior editor, doesn’t that seem a little rude?”

Suga furrowed his brow. “ _Ohhh!_ I see the misunderstanding here.” He held up his hand to reveal an elegant white gold wedding band. “Don't worry, we're married.” 

Nishinoya stared up at Suga, unblinking. “That... makes so much more sense. I’m really sorry, Suga-san.” He bowed deeply once more. _So all the pretty people in this office have beauty marks and are married. Nice._

He laughed. “There’s no need to apologize. You didn’t know. I’m Sugawara Koushi, by the way. Daichi’s husband _and_ fellow senior editor, for the record.” 

“It’s nice to meet you, Sugawara-san.”

“Nice to meet you, Nishinoya-san. How about I take you around the office then?”

Nishinoya and Sugawara backtracked the way they came and began the tour. Walking through the office for a second time, Nishinoya closely observed the work around him. Some employees were on the phone, discussing things such as how many copies of a book to print or where to have lunch with a client. Some typed away at their computers, writing notes and sending very important emails, no doubt. Others were hunched over manuscripts with red ink flying out of their pens as they corrected grammatical mistakes and incorrect facts.

The majority, it seemed, were crowded around a corner of the room, though. The crowd murmured as they watched whatever it was unfold in front of them. Sharing a confused look, Nishinoya and Sugawara approached. As they got closer, they heard the unmistakable sound of an argument.

“What did you just call me, you little punk?!”

“I said you look like a dog when you bare your teeth like that. It’s not very befitting of a company employee.”

“Yeah? Well I’ll _be fitting_ my foot up your ass if you say it one more time!”

Sugawara groaned. “Oh God.” He pushed through the crowd with Nishinoya following close behind.

In the center of all the commotion were two guys: one with short, buzzed hair and another, much taller one with blonde hair and black, thick-rimmed glasses. The one with the shaved head was scowling up at the blonde while the other grinned in amusement. While he didn’t seem to bat an eye to the other’s intimidation, it was clear that a fight was oncoming. The crowd watched in abject fear and curiosity as the two moved closer. Before the blonde could say another word, Sugawara interrupted, shoving the two apart.

“What the hell is going on here?”

“Tanaka-san got aggressive again,” the blonde said.

“Tsukishima started calling me names!” The one with the shaved head pointed.

“Both of you are being wildly irresponsible right now,” Sugawara said. “Tanaka, you are a senior employee, you should know better than to pick fights with the newbies. And Tsukishima, you could lose your internship if you keep acting like this to your seniors.”

“But he started it!” They both said in unison. 

“I don’t care who started it!” Sugawara shouted. “ _Both_ of you are being disruptive. Why are you even up here, Tanaka?”

“I needed to make some coffee and the coffeemaker downstairs is broken.”

“And you guys started arguing _how?”_

“He started yelling at the coffeemaker when it wouldn’t start up,” Tsukishima said. “So, I offered some words of advice.”

“Advice my ass! You started making fun of me!”

“Tanaka...” Sugawara warned. “Whatever. It’s over. Both of you get back to work, now!”

The crowd immediately dispersed as bystanders returned to their desks. Sugawara gave the two a pointed look as they walked off in opposite directions, Tanaka sparing harsh glances over his shoulder. Sugawara let out a deep sigh.

“Sorry about that. Ever since Tsukishima and his friend Yamaguchi started interning here, Tanaka’s been a lot more fired up.”

“How long has this been going on?” Nishinoya laughed. “Seems like prime entertainment.”

“Tsukishima and Yamaguchi have been here since March, I think. So, about a month now.”

“Damn. One month in and they're already involved in company drama. I hope I can avoid that."

“As long as you don’t engage people like Tanaka does, you’ll probably be fine. Actually, it might be better to avoid Tanaka in general. He’s kind of reckless,” Sugawara explained.

“Got it.” Nishinoya agreed, but he couldn’t help but be amused at the guy’s energy. Nishinoya felt like he stuck out in this sea of office workers, but Tanaka stuck out too. He oddly felt comforted knowing there was a troublemaker in the office. It made the place seem a little more real to him. Hell, he kind of liked the guy and his fun comebacks. Hopefully he’d run into him again some time.

“Anyways, let’s continue this tour.” Sugawara continued to lead Nishinoya through the office. They rode the elevator down to the twenty-fourth floor then and, when the elevator doors opened, they were met with vibrant colors. This floor was brightly decorated with memo boards from wall to wall, covered in sticky notes and thumbnail sketches. There were computers at the tables as well as digital sketchpads, thin and incredibly expensive-looking. There seemed to be less people on this floor compared to the editorial department, but everyone was just as engrossed in their work.

“This is where the creative departments work,” Sugawara said. “Everyone here is involved in making and approving jacket art, promotional art, and sometimes internal art if an author hasn’t already partnered with an illustrator. Most publishing houses tend to outsource art from freelance artists, but we still have staff in-house to do that kind of thing.”

“I thought floors twenty through twenty-seven were for the editorial department?”

“They are, mostly. But this floor and the one below it are dedicated to the artists. Us senior editors and the art directors are always having meetings, so it’s more convenient to keep ‘em close. It’s easier than traveling down ten floors, anyways,” Sugawara explained.

He nodded in understanding and looked at one of the employees sketching away in a traditional sketchbook. “Does everyone do digital art or?”

“No, not always. It depends on what the book needs. Most of the time the covers are designed digitally, but sometimes more complicated illustrations have to be done by hand first.”

“That sounds like a lot of work...” Nishinoya mumbled.

“Yeah, it is. But, hey, we’ve got awesome directors to make sure everything runs smoothly.” He looked around the room until his eyes landed on a girl talking to another employee, standing over his sketchpad and giving him critiques. “Speaking of... Yachi! Could you come over here for a moment?” 

She whipped her head around at the sudden call. She said something to the other employee and came over. “Hi, Sugawara-san. What’s up?”

“Yachi, this is our new assistant editor, Nishinoya-san. He’s working with Daichi, so you’ll probably be seeing him a lot from now on.”

“Hello, Nishinoya-san. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She bowed to Nishinoya.. He realized just how short she was as she grinned up at him, standing certainly no taller than 5’0”. Her short, blonde hair was kept back with a pink, star-shaped hair clip and revealed small, delicate earrings. Her eyes were innocently wide as she looked at Nishinoya. Despite being an adult – an art director, no less – she still looked like a high schooler. If Sugawara had told him that she was an intern like Tsukishima, he’d believe him.

He bowed in return. “It’s nice to meet you too, Yachi-san.”

“Yachi’s our youngest senior employee. She got promoted to art director a few months ago after pitching some stellar ideas for the promotional art for one of our winter books. It was so good it got us a 200% increase in sales that season!” Sugawara bragged.

“I don’t know about that.” She denied. “I just got lucky. The last art director stepped down because she was moving to an American publishing house, that’s all.”

“Well, she still chose you to succeed her, right? That’s really impressive, Yachi-san!” Nishinoya enthused.

Yachi reddened even further. “T-thank you. I guess I’m still getting used to being in a position of authority.”

“I’m sure you’ll do great!”

“I’ll do my best.” She gave a grateful smile. “I hope you enjoy working here at Karasuno. I look forward to seeing you around the office.”

“Well, I’m glad you two are getting along,” Sugawara cut in. “I’m gonna go ahead and show Nishinoya the other floors, though. See you around, Yachi!”

“See ya!” She waved as they left for the elevators once more and returned to her work.

As they rode the elevator down to the twenty-third floor, Nishinoya asked Sugawara, ”So, what kind of books do you work on, Sugawara-san?"

“Why don’t you take a guess?”

Nishinoya thought for a moment. “YA novels?”

Sugawara laughed and shook his head. “Nope.”

“Fantasy?”

“Still a no.”

“What genre then?"

Sugawara slyly grinned. “Horror.”

_“Really?”_ Looking at Sugawara, Nishinoya couldn’t really imagine him being the type to dedicate his time to working on horror novels. So far, he seemed like a very sweet and humorous person. Though, it is always the ones you least expect.

“Yup! Do you remember Nakamura-sensei's _The Calling?”_

Nishinoya nodded, then thought for a moment. “No way! You were the editor for that?”

“That’s me,” Sugawara chuckled. “What can I say? I’ve liked scary stories my whole life. But hey, if you’re surprised by that, wait ‘till you hear what genre Daichi works with.”

“Which one?”

“You really wanna know?” He teased.

“Of course!” Nishinoya effused. Sugawara leaned close to Nishinoya and whispered to him. _“Romance?!”_

“Romance!”

“Okay, he _really_ doesn’t seem like he’d do romance.”

Sugawara shrugged. “He has a tough reputation, but he’s a real softie deep down. I should know, I’m married to the guy.”

“That just doesn’t seem real,” Nishinoya said. He tried to imagine Daichi sitting behind his large desk, stern look on his face as he read pages and pages of fluff and drama. “Does he do... you know, mature novels?”

“What, like _50 Shades?_ Sometimes, but it’s not often.” Now that was even harder to imagine. “He gets kind of embarrassed by it, though, so he usually asks for my help. He's more used to standard, slow-burn romance.”

“Huh. I guess that means I’ll be working on romance too, then,” Nishinoya said more to himself than to Sugawara. He didn’t have all that much experience with romance – as a genre or in real life. He’d been in a few relationships, but they hadn’t gone so well. They were almost all painfully boring and detached -- he only ever went on one real date with a girl he was with for two years -- or toxic, like with his most recent ex. He also didn’t read romance books that often. He didn’t really read them at all, in fact. He preferred mysteries and thrillers and action. Although, he would admit that he had seen La La Land and had, in fact, cried. This was following his last break-up, though, so needless to say his emotions were heightened.

“Alright, back to the tour then.”

In the next forty minutes or so they traversed through the rest of the departments, stopping to strike up conversation with the occasional employee. Sugawara was friendly with everyone he spoke to. He greeted everyone casually and comfortably, he offered warm smiles, and he made sure to shake everyone’s hands, pat them on the shoulder, or otherwise show them some affection. It seemed as though he knew everyone regardless of department or position; If they were under Karasuno Books, he knew them by name. Nishinoya admired his amiability and began to forget his earlier nervousness.

When they finished their tour of the office, they soon returned to the twenty-fifth floor. “And that’s Karasuno for you! Well, the need-to-knows, anyways. If you ever need any help finding or doing something, just ask me. Or Daichi. But if you’d rather ask me, that’s cool, too.” He winked.

Nishinoya laughed. “Sure thing. Thank you so much, Sugawara-san.”

“No problem.” Sugawara looked down at his watch. “Daichi’s probably about ready for his lunch break, now. Let’s head back to his office.”

Nishinoya was truly grateful for Sugawara’s help. If he had had to go through the past hour with some other mundane coworker, he would have surely lost his mind from the boredom. Sugawara made the whole experience fun, though. With Sugawara around, he felt like he could survive starting out in this new building in this unfamiliar city. He almost wished he was working under Sugawara instead, not that he’d ever mention that.

As they arrived to Daichi’s office, they heard muffled shouting from behind the closed doors. They were semi-transparent, so they could only see Daichi’s silhouette moving about the office, pacing back and forth as he spoke on the phone. His voice was only increasing in volume, getting louder with each step he took. Suddenly, he stopped. He ended the call, slamming his phone down onto the receiver. He then whipped around and threw a pen from his desk at the opposite wall. Although they couldn’t see into the office, the soft thud they heard indicated that the pen had gotten stuck in the wall.

“Not this again,” Sugawara sighed.

_Again?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading Chapter 2 of TMIB! (Look, we have an acronym now!) I'll admit this chapter isn't 100% up to my standards. There's a lot about it that seems a little off to me -- especially pacing-wise -- that I couldn't quite fix. Nonetheless, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I hope that you'll stick around for chapters 3+ !
> 
> (Chapter title based on: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens)
> 
> Feel free to follow me on  
> Tumblr: noyaspeach.tumblr.com  
> Twitter: @noyaspeach


	3. Brave New World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am... so sorry for not updating in so long. School and corona kind of suck??? But please enjoy an extra-long chapter (about 6k words long!) as thanks for being so patient. No matter how long it takes, TMIB will be finished someday <3
> 
> EDIT: It is two days after initially publishing this chapter and I went and added a bit to the end. Oops! I hope you didn't miss it. It's not a huge change! Just an extra scene to really close the chapter and transition us into Chapter 4 <3

“What do you mean _‘again’_?” Nishinoya asked nervously. 

Sugawara eyed the door to the office. “I’d love to explain, but unfortunately I’ve got a ton of work to get back to. See ya around, Nishinoya!” 

“Wait--” Nishinoya tried to stop Sugawara from leaving, but he was gone in an instant. “Great.” 

In the office, Daichi began pacing again, muttering furiously to himself. His shadow on the translucent glass was foreboding – large shoulders raised as his footsteps fell heavy on the carpeted floor. Nishinoya hesitated to approach the door but eventually brought himself to push it open. He called out apprehensively. 

“Sawamura-san?” Daichi whipped around. Nishinoya met his eyes and immediately regretted his decision to come in when he did. Still fixed in his earlier rage, Daichi’s eyes were dark and intense. They seemed to bore into Nishinoya with an almost tangible heat. “Is now a bad time?” 

Daichi groaned. “No, you’re fine. I just got off the phone with our printer and, well I’m not too happy with them.” 

“What happened?” 

He paused to collect his thoughts. “Why don’t you sit down first?” Nishinoya obliged and he resumed. “Right now, we’re working with a beginning author. This is her first book. So, we’ve decided to print about 500 copies for the first run – mind you, that’s being generous.” 

Nishinoya nodded along. 

“Somehow the _dumbasses_ over at the printing company got confused in the process and printed 5,000 copies. Do you know how much 5,000 copies is?” 

“A lot of copies...” 

_”Way too many!”_ He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “The average book sells 3,000 copies in its lifetime. How are we supposed to sell 5,000 in just the first run?! _And_ from an unknown author, no less!” 

Nishinoya stood awkwardly. He didn’t know where to look, whether to look at Daichi or look around the room and risk getting scolded on his first day. He thought the former might be the better option. But he couldn’t decide where on Daichi’s face to look. His eyes were still sharp with anger, so maybe not those. Above his eyes were his dark eyebrows, thick but still neatly groomed. Nishinoya already had to look up to meet Daichi’s eyes, though, and that would just be overkill. Looking at his nose seemed to be the best choice. A good central focal point. 

“--you listening to me?” 

Nishinoya flicked back up to Daichi’s eyes, piercing directly into his once again. “Sorry, what?” 

“Forget it. It isn’t anything that should concern you too much. Yet.” Daichi pinched the bridge of his nose. That was a habit that Nishinoya could never understand. What good did pinching your nose do if you were upset? It’s not like his nose was bleeding or anything. It just made Daichi look like his mom. He’d seen her do the same thing almost every night when she was still a practicing lawyer. Those were stressful nights, no doubt... “I also don’t mean to sound so hostile to a newcomer. I really don’t want to scare you off on your first day.” 

“Has that happened before?” Nishinoya chuckled. 

“More often than you’d think.” 

Nishinoya stopped laughing. 

“But,” Daichi pivoted, “it’s good that you’re still here so far. That’s a good sign. Tell me, Nishinoya-san, what experience do you have in publishing? I’m aware that you were an editorial assistant in Miyagi, but how familiar are you with the editing process?” 

“I mostly handled menial things like delivering messages and fact-checking, but I was able to observe a lot of the process, including manuscript appraisal and proofreading.” 

Which really meant curiously looking over his superior’s shoulder as he avoided doing the research he was assigned. 

“Well, I’d hardly call messages and fact-checking menial, but that’s good to hear. And how much have you worked with romance specifically?” 

Nishinoya had two options here: Disappoint his new boss not even halfway into the workday and admit that he had essentially no experience in the field, or bluff. 

“I’d say I’m pretty well-versed.” 

“And what do you think about the current trends and tropes in romance writing?” 

“I think... the werewolf and vampire stuff is very cool...” 

Daichi gave a firm smile and readjusted himself so that he was leaning towards Nishinoya. “You don’t have to lie to me, Nishinoya-san. It’s alright if you’re new to romance.” Nishinoya began to sigh with relief. “It just means you’ll have a lot of homework before you officially start with me.” 

“Homework?” 

Daichi rustled through a few of his desk drawers before taking out a folder. “In there’s a list of our top-selling romance books from last year. There’re about thirty books in that list with a synopsis for each one. I want you to read through at least the top fifteen as well as these books on editing.” He opened another drawer and pulled out a thin packet of papers. 

“That’s at least like twenty-five books, Sawamura-san. You want me to read them all?” 

“We're working from nothing here. If you were a bit more familiar with the genre, we could’ve maybe cut it down to twenty.” 

Nishinoya reluctantly accepted the materials. “What will I do in the meantime? As I read all of your... recommendations.” 

“I’ll have you observing the process as you shadow me. Between now and then you’ll be following what I do and helping only with, as you called them, ‘menial’ tasks.” Daichi checked the clock on his desk. “Starting with this meeting. Follow me and bring your things.” 

“I thought you were on your lunch break?” Nishinoya said. He quickly followed Daichi as he headed out of his office. 

“I am, technically. But this is an important meeting. Can’t miss it.” 

“What do you want me to do while I’m there?” 

“Just stay quiet and take some notes. You’ve got a laptop with you, right?” He shook his head. “Then just use paper and pen for today. But always make sure you’ve got a laptop or a tablet with you when you’re here. If you don’t have one by next week, you might just suffer for it.” 

“Aye aye captain,” Nishinoya said absentmindedly. Daichi looked back at Nishinoya but just smiled. _Make sure you keep your mouth shut, Noya. Don’t wanna piss him off in the future._

They filed into the meeting room with the rest of the participating employees and quickly found their seats, Nishinoya awkwardly sliding in between Daichi and an editor he didn’t know. He looked around the conference table, making a mental note of everyone’s faces. He guessed they were all pretty important if they were in a meeting with Daichi. He perked up as Yachi walked in, grateful for at least one familiar face in the room. She gave him a polite smile which he returned with energy tenfold. Something about her made Nishinoya feel just a little more motivated, whether it was her fresh appearance or her naïve demeanor full of potential. She was undeniably cute, but more like a younger sibling than anything. 

Nishinoya’s attention was brought to the front of the room as a man cleared his throat and silenced the room. He looked to be about in his 40s, but his hair was dyed blonde, which was quite a youthful choice. 

“Thank you everyone for coming to the meeting. If any of you were missing, we’d have a big problem, as I’m sure you all know this is an important one. This meeting is your chance to update me on our new releases for the season. First, I’ll have Fujioka-san give us a brief overview of last week’s meeting.” 

As Fujioka recounted the events of the other meeting, Nishinoya couldn’t help but stare at the man at the head of the table. He was very interesting to look at. He wore a very nice, expensive-looking suit, but everything from the neck-up was giving a different vibe. His dyed hair was the first thing Nishinoya saw, but he then noticed two piercings in his left ear. His appearance was a paradox, both professional and punkish. With not much to take notes on, Nishinoya decided to doodle this man in the margin of his notepad, shielding it so that Daichi couldn’t see. 

“Thank you, Fujioka-san. Now for the seasonal strategy meeting. I’d like to start off by congratulating you all on your hard work these past few months. We’ve done a great job of getting our numbers up, selling more books than the last run. But I know we can do even better this time. We’ve got plenty of new faces in the office,” he glanced over to Nishinoya, “so I’m sure we can get a lot of fresh ideas from them. I’m confident in this team and our ability to make great products, okay? So, why don’t we have Satoh-san start us off with her plan for non-fiction?” 

A woman with short brown hair stood. “Thank you, president. The non-fiction department has been doing well these past few months. We’ve had quite a lot of our self-help books reach the top of the charts, and we’ve been able to form great relationships with some popular internet and TV personalities who plan to return to publish more books with us.” 

Daichi let out a quiet sigh which only Nishinoya seemed to notice. 

“Is everything alright?” He whispered to Daichi. 

“Yeah, I just hate listening to Hina speak.” 

“Hina? Do you mean Satoh-san?” 

“Hina is her first name. Personally, I don’t think she deserves the formality.” 

“Why?” 

He paused to make sure no one else was listening. “Here’s your first big lesson for working at Karasuno. Don’t waste your time with the non-fiction department. The employees are all unimaginative slaves to a senior editor who hates fun and creativity and only cares about numbers.” 

“That’s... blunt.” 

“Well, it’s the truth. She doesn’t have an ounce of artistic integrity. She pays her bills by profiting off 20-something-year-olds writing memoirs and advice books for their preteen audiences. And if it’s not that, then it’s cheap photobooks with random tweets and quotes thrown in.” 

“It seems like it works for the company, though.” 

Daichi sighed again, but this time at Nishinoya. “I understand that. We’re all trying to sell as many books as we can, but it’s one thing to carefully select an author with a unique voice and an original story to tell and work with them to polish that story, and another to pick the biggest social media influencer at the time just to have them release a ghost-written book in less than a few months.” 

“Wow... You know, I’m sensing a lot of bad blood between you two.” 

“I- We... That’s not the point. The point is Satoh Hina is a woman who doesn’t deserve my respect. Not when I work my ass off to make sure my department is constantly evolving and staying new and fresh, and she just skirts by with this crap.” Daichi motioned to Satoh, who was going over the non-fiction department’s main releases from the last month. “It just bothers me, fundamentally.” 

“So, finally, I’d like to announce our big project this season; We’ll be working with _the_ Kozume Kenma on his autobiography.” Satoh flipped to the next slide of her presentation, displaying Kenma's face onscreen as the room respectfully applauded her. Nishinoya didn’t clap, though, instead turning to watch as the corner of Daichi narrowed his eyes and sneered. 

“As you may or may not know, Kozume-san is _the_ top YouTube creator and professional gamer right now with an audience of over 10 million followers. We’re very lucky and excited to be working with him on his first book.” She glanced over at the president. “I’m sure this will be a great boost to our sales.” 

“I guess you were right,” Nishinoya whispered. “That’s kind of impressive, though. Kenma hardly talks about his personal life in his videos, so it’s a big deal to be the first publishing house to release a book about his life.” 

“Whatever. She can have her gamer autobiography. I’ve got something far more impressive up my sleeve.” 

“Thank you very much, Satoh-san. I’m looking forward to reading Kozume-san's book if you’re working on it. Next, let’s hear from Sawamura-san on the romance department’s plan,” the president said. 

Daichi gave a slight bow before walking to the front of the room and gaining everyone’s attention. “Thank you, sir. The romance department has also been doing very well lately, largely thanks to our long-time authors and their fan-favorite series. As usual, modern realistic fiction has been most popular among our audiences, and especially among teenage to young adult women, so we’ll be continuing to focus on that subgenre this season. These are our most loyal buyers and readers, so we must ensure we keep them coming back. Nakamoto-sensei's _Mark of a Star_ was a hit and he’s thankfully agreed to a sequel, so we anticipate good reception on that front. Miyawaki-sensei is also working with us on the final book in her _A Year in Paris_ trilogy which is already receiving a web series, so we should certainly see an increase in sales once that is released.” 

Nishinoya stared on as Daichi gave his presentation. He was amazed at the complete switch in attitude from his earlier irritated and competitive mood to his now calm and professional attitude. It shouldn’t have been a surprise given that this was an important strategy meeting with the president of the company in attendance, but Nishinoya was in awe nonetheless. It was largely because it clashed so much with the impression he had of Daichi so far. He’d known him for less than a day but already figured he was a headstrong, determined, and relentless boss. He could tell how much Daichi cared about his department and the art he was involved in creating, and he could see that this was how he could show it--by preserving his reputation and winning the president over. 

“-this month. That concludes the plans for this season but, and I hope this is alright to include in this meeting--” Daichi looked over to the president who gave a short nod. “--the romance department does have another piece of good news. We are proud to announce that we will soon be working with renowned romance author, Hirano Youta.” 

Nishinoya thought while the room clapped once more. Everyone seemed pleasantly surprised by the news. Clearly, they knew who this Hirano person was. 

“Due to an unspecified dispute with his previous publishers, Hirano-sensei has decided to switch over to Karasuno for his newest book and all subsequent releases. Starting next week, we’ll be working diligently to create yet another Hirano bestseller, this time with the Karasuno name attached to it. We expect a publication date in late spring of next year, but of course, we have other works to attend to in the meantime, so look forward to those as well. Thank you.” Daichi concluded his announcement with a look of confidence and a subtle smirk to Nishinoya. Whoever Hirano-sensei was, it was obvious that he was Daichi’s trump card. 

“I’m impressed, Sawamura-san. I expect great results from you,” the president commented before moving onto the next speaker. Daichi quickly took his seat again. Turning to look at him, Nishinoya could tell that beneath Daichi’s calm exterior hid excitement and triumph. “Kobayashi-san, you’re up next.”

* * *

With the meeting over and all the attendees slowly heading back to their stations, Nishinoya let all his questions flood out. 

“Alright, who’s Hirano-sensei? Judging by everyone’s reactions he seems like a pretty big deal, so how come I haven’t heard of him? Are we gonna get to meet him? When do we start working?” 

“Okay, Nishinoya-san, I’m going to need you to slow down if you want me to answer any of those,” Daichi laughed. “I appreciate the enthusiasm, though.” 

The two walked back to Daichi’s office to resume their conversation out of earshot of competing department leaders. 

“Right, now I can help. Like I said earlier, Hirano Youta is one of the leading romance authors out right now. Ever since he self-published his first book, he’s been a smash hit with female audiences of all ages. He’s practically a god among aspiring writers. Getting to publish even one of his books is a surefire way of increasing your sales tenfold, so we’re incredibly lucky to be working with him.” 

“Damn,” Nishinoya marveled. “So, when do we start?” 

“Well, there’s some paperwork we have to get through first, but he should be ready in about two weeks. I’ve heard from other editors that the editing process with Hirano-sensei can be a long one, so while we’ll start developmental editing soon, it will probably be a while before we have anything even resembling a finished story.” 

“Sounds like a lot of work. Will we be meeting him anytime soon or...?” 

“Ah, right. You’re not familiar with Hirano-sensei, so of course you wouldn’t know.” 

“Know what?” 

“No one’s ever met with Hirano-sensei personally. Not even his old editors know what he looks like. Hirano Youta is a pseudonym he writes with to maintain his privacy. If you look online you can find plenty of articles explaining his situation, but for now, just know we won’t ever get to meet him.” 

“What? Ever?! That’s lame! Does he ever do book-signings or media events?” 

“No, he’s very cautious when it comes to his face being put out there. He’s never done a book-signing, live interview, or any other event. If the press needs to get in contact with him, he limits it to emails and scheduled calls.” 

“Damn. I wonder why he’s so concerned about his privacy...” 

“We all are, trust me. Don’t worry too much about it, though. Once we start work with him, you won’t have to be in contact with him very much at all. For now, just focus on getting caught up with the industry,” Daichi said with a pointed look. 

“Yes, sir.”

* * *

“Tonkatsu, please,” Nishinoya said to the server behind the counter. Now on his lunch break, Nishinoya decided to eat at the company cafeteria seeing as how he was still new to the area and had forgotten to look for good restaurants in the area. The cafeteria was only a few floors below the editing departments, so it was convenient enough to drop by. The server handed him his food, and he began looking around for an available table. Scanning the room, he found many half-empty tables partly occupied by fellow suit-clad employees but none of the tables seemed particularly inviting. Although, he supposed they weren’t meant to be inviting. This wasn’t high school, after all, it was a professional working environment. 

As he stood motionless at the head of the line, he felt a small nudge against his side. Turning, he saw a familiar face. 

“Oh, hey. You’re Tanaka-san, right?” 

“Please, just Tanaka’s fine. I’m pretty sure we’re the same age anyway. Either way, you’re sorta holding up the line, so you should probably find a seat.” He noticed Nishinoya’s momentary lost look. He offered, “I’ll find one with you.” 

The two sat down at the far end of a table occupied by two women, both of which gave judgmental side glances. “Thanks, but you didn’t have to do that.” 

“It was more for me than for you. You looked like you were gonna be there a while.” 

Nishinoya laughed. “Fair enough. I’m Nishinoya Yuu, by the way. If you couldn’t already tell, it’s my first day.” 

“Tanaka Ryuunosuke, but I guess you already knew that, huh?” 

“Sorta. What was up with that fight earlier, anyways?” 

“Yeah, that.” Tanaka rolled his eyes. “Look, I know it seemed immature, but I was in the right there. That kid should have more respect for his seniors, especially as an intern. I mean, I’m a working man and he’s barely getting paid.” 

Nishinoya laughed and soon Tanaka joined too. “I get that. Some of the younger employees can get on your nerves, huh? We had a couple of those up in Miyagi and they were the worst. Always said whatever was on their mind without a second thought.” 

“Oh, you’re from Miyagi? I’ve got some family up there. Yeah, I could tell. You don’t have that city vibe to you yet.” 

“Thanks?” Nishinoya was unsure if he meant it as a compliment. “Yeah, I transferred from the Miyagi location. The job’s pretty much the same, though I guess it holds more weight here in the big city.” 

“Tell me about it. Hey, I noticed you were under Suga-san's leadership earlier. Are you with the horror department?” 

“Nah, I’m in romance, actually.” 

He scoffed. “Romance? With Daichi? You're kidding!” 

“Daichi? I thought only Suga-san called him that.” 

“Well, I don’t say it to his face. But seriously, romance? Were you tricked into it or something? Did someone blackmail you into working for him?” 

“It was sort of a random assignment that came with the transfer. I have HR to thank for that one,” Nishinoya muttered the last part. 

Tanaka whistled. “You’ve really got your work cut out for you, then. Good luck.” 

“You’re about the third person to tell me that. I think I can manage it, though.” 

“Has he thrown anything in his office yet?” 

“...Yes.” 

“Yeah, that’s your first red flag,” Tanaka joked. 

“Well, I guess he is a tough boss so far. He’s already given me a list of books to study up on that’s as long as the Nile. It’s gonna take me a while to really wrap my head around romance.” 

“Wait, so you’ve never worked in romance before? Why are you sticking with the guy, then?” 

“The experience, mostly. If I’m being honest, I really want to work my way up into moving over to manga and becoming a mangaka.” 

“Are you serious? Dude, that’s dope!” Tanaka exclaimed, a grin spreading across his face. 

Nishinoya smiled in kind. “Yeah, it’s been a dream of mine since I was in grade school. You don’t think it’s crazy?” 

“Crazy? If you want it, I say go for it! Working at Karasuno'll definitely give you some bonus points if you ever go into manga.” Tanaka’s encouragement seemed genuine and not just polite. Just looking at him, Nishinoya could tell that he was seriously enthusiastic. “Do you have any ideas yet?” 

“They come and go, really. Sometimes I’ll finish an anime series and want to make something just like it, but then that idea gets replaced by something new, like, a month later. But I have always considered a story centered on volleyball. It’s not all that exciting, but I used to play in high school and it’s always been a pretty big part of my life.” 

“Volleyball’s cool!” Tanaka replied. “I used to play as a kid, too. You can totally make a manga about volleyball. You could make a super classic underdog story and throw your own twists into it.” 

Nishinoya nodded. “Yeah, yeah. I was sorta thinking of doing that. I’d have to think of how to make it unique, though, ya know? How to make it my own.” 

“For sure! But that stuff comes to you naturally. Give it some time and I’m sure you’ll come up with something awesome.” 

“Thanks, man.” Nishinoya grinned. “You’re a good hype man, you know that?” 

“Eh, something like that,” Tanaka laughed. “I do my best to keep morale up around here. It’s something we all need considering how stressful the job is.” 

“I can imagine. By the way, you never told me what department you’re in. Didn’t seem like you were very welcome in editing.” 

“I’m in marketing on level nineteen. And yeah, Sugawara’s never too happy to see me up there. It’s like I’m cursed or something. Whenever I come up to drop off some paperwork there’s always some sort of fight that follows me,” he groaned. 

“That's rough. I don’t see why, though. You’re a cool dude and, if anything, that Tsukishima kid seems like more of an asshole than you.” 

“You calling me an asshole?” Tanaka glared. 

“I mean...” Nishinoya paused before they both started laughing. “I’m just playing.” 

“Good, because I thought I was going to have to start another fight today.” 

“Oh, so you did start the fight from earlier?” 

“Hey,” Tanaka pointed a finger. “That’s none of your business.” 

Nishinoya held his hands up in surrender. “Alright, alright. Lesson learned.” 

They continued their lunches, getting to know one another and joking around in the convivial cafeteria environment. They found out more things they had in common, like their love for superhero movies and their bad middle school fashion choices. As they talked, they quickly finished their food. Tanaka had gotten a hefty bowl of gyudon that he’d almost completely devoured not even halfway through their conversation. He and Nishinoya both were completely done eating well before their lunch break was over. 

“God, the food here is incredible,” Nishinoya enthused. “The Miyagi building was nothing like this.” 

“Well, things are always better in Tokyo,” Tanaka mused. “With how important the work is, the least they could offer us is good food and some nice facilities.” 

“Working here seems like a pretty big deal.” 

"Sure is. Only the best of the best get hired,” he motioned to Nishinoya, “or moved here.” 

Nishinoya chuckled. “I don’t know if I’d call myself the best of the best.” 

“Of course you are! You made it here somehow. Plus, you’re working under Daichi and you haven’t quit yet. I can tell you’ve got what it takes to be here.” 

“Thanks, man.” Nishinoya smiled at this new friend he’d gained. “I guess I just don’t feel like I fit in yet. Shit, I’m wearing a suit that barely fits me and everyone else just seems so... polished and professional. And pretty! I saw this gorgeous woman in the elevator earlier, I couldn’t believe she was even real.” 

“Was she headed to floor twenty-five?” 

“She was. How’d you know?” 

“Black hair, beauty mark by the mouth?” 

“Yeah...” 

“That would be my wife, Kiyoko.” 

Nishinoya stammered. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything by- I just thought she was really beautiful, was all- I didn’t even know she was married until she le—” 

Tanaka interrupted Nishinoya’s ramblings with laughter. “No worries, man. She gets it all the time, and I mean _all_ the time. You’re cool with me as long as you don’t try anything.” 

“No, yeah, I promise I won’t!” 

“Good, good.” Tanaka’s eyes narrowed, threatening like his earlier fight with Tsukishima. “Otherwise, I’d have to rough you up.” 

Nishinoya coughed. “Yeah, tha-- that wouldn’t be nice.” 

Tanaka chuckled again and clapped Nishinoya on the shoulder. “I’m just messing with you. You seem like a nice guy. I trust you not to make any moves on my wife. She does a fine enough job defending herself, anyway. She doesn’t need my help.” 

Nishinoya chuckled a bit nervously. “She seems great. What does she do here? I saw her going to the editing floors.” 

“Ah, she’s a copy editor. Mostly works with Sugawara in horror to make sure a story’s grammar is alright and that it reads fine. She’s always been a huge bookworm, so she loves it, even if she doesn’t show it all the time.” 

“It’s nice that you two work in the same company. You’re just a few floors away from each other at all times.” 

“Yeah, but, like I said, Sugawara doesn’t want me anywhere in the editing department, really. Kiyoko and I only really see each other on our lunch breaks or during company parties.” Tanaka checked his watch. “Which reminds me, my lunch break is almost over, and I’m guessing yours is too. You should probably head back up before Daichi puts a bounty on your head or something.” 

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Well, it was nice eating and talking with you. You free to do the same tomorrow?” 

“Sure thing, man.” 

Nishinoya silently congratulated himself on managing to avoid eating lunch alone anymore.

* * *

Nishinoya unlocked his front door with a sense of satisfaction having finished his first day of work somewhat successfully. After returning from his lunch break, he followed Daichi to two small team meetings to take notes, then began sorting through the list of books he’d been given. Daichi informed him that, not only did the building have countless bookcases of material for employees, but it also had a private library on the tenth floor. Nishinoya spent the last few hours of his day admiring the library and its expansive collection of novels, novellas, encyclopedias, dictionaries, biographies, autobiographies, and... _manga_. The manga section was admittedly much smaller than the others, but he was thrilled nonetheless to find numerous volumes of his favorite series. With only a few other people in the library, he spent a good deal of time flipping through issues of Shonen Jump old and new. Revisiting the older issues reminded him of the long nights he would spend as a kid, catching up with his favorite protagonists, reading under the covers with a flashlight. Looking through the newer ones gave him hope for his own future manga and even gave him a few ideas for character design. Before he knew it, the workday was over, and he’d hardly found any of the books he set out for. 

Still, he was proud of the work he’d completed today. He hadn’t crumbled under the pressure of being Daichi’s assistant yet, and he had even managed to make a work friend. That list was still daunting, though. He would have to get through it sooner or later. 

Nishinoya’s stomach growled then. “Later it is, I guess.” He reminisced about the tasty tonkatsu he’d eaten earlier in the day as he made his way to the kitchen. Opening the fridge, he realized there was nothing to eat. “Shit. Right, grocery shopping is tomorrow. I guess I’ll go out for dinner, then.” 

He used his phone to search for nearby restaurants before finally deciding on a cheap diner within walking distance. He changed into more casual clothes, made sure he had his wallet and house key, then left his apartment. As he made his way to the building’s front door, he encountered a familiar head of long, dark hair. 

“Asahi-san! Hey, what’s up?” 

Asahi turned around from where he was getting his mail. He was wearing an outfit similar to the one he wore when they first met. Today, he was wearing a white t-shirt underneath a mustard yellow cardigan with denim jeans. Nishinoya wondered if he was just leaving or just arriving. 

Asahi was startled at first but eased into a smile. “Oh, hi, Nishinoya-san. I’m good. How are you?” 

“Great! Got through my first day of work alright.” 

“That’s good.” Asahi said. Nishinoya continued to stare up at him with a grin, almost like he was expecting something. “Umm, so where are you headed?” 

“I’m glad you asked. I’m going to the diner down the block. I haven’t got groceries yet, so I’m eating out today.” 

“Oh, that’s nice. It’s a great place. Family business, I think. The food’s awesome.” 

Nishinoya nodded. Another moment of pause followed. “Would you... like to join me?” 

“ _Me?_ Oh, uh, sure!” Asahi fiddled with the mail in his hands before putting it in his bag. “I haven’t had dinner yet, so that would be nice.” 

“Awesome. Let’s go,” Nishinoya said, leading the way out of the building. The two made small talk as they walked to the diner. 

“So, how was work?” Asahi asked. 

“It was a little hectic. Well, maybe more than a little. I witnessed a fight in the first hour of being there.” 

Asahi paled. “A fight?!” 

“Well, less of a fight, more of a petty argument. This guy Tanaka was arguing with one of the interns. Honestly, he seemed like kind of a jerk to me.” 

“Tanaka?” 

“No, the intern.” 

“Oh...” 

“Tanaka seems kind of nice, actually. We had lunch together and I told him all about my manga plans. I also found out that I almost hit on his wife in the elevator.” 

“Oh! That wouldn’t be good.” 

“No, it wouldn’t,” Nishinoya laughed. “He was cool about it, though.” 

“I’m glad,” Asahi said, relieved. “What are those manga plans, by the way?” 

“They’re kind of all over the place right now. I’ve been thinking of doing a sports manga. Volleyball, probably, since I played in high school. I actually spent some time in the company library today reading some old issues of Shonen Jump for inspiration.” 

“Volleyball manga seems interesting! I can’t say I’ve heard of anything like it yet. Maybe you could be the pioneer of the genre.” 

Nishinoya beamed up at Asahi. “Thanks! Everyone around me has been so nice so far. Well, except for my boss. He’s a little scary.” 

“Your boss?” 

“Sawamura-san. I’m his assistant editor, starting today. He’s strict, but he’s successful, so I guess it works.” 

“Sawamura-san... I feel like I’ve heard that name before.” 

“He’s the senior romance editor. A big deal, apparently.” 

Asahi’s eyes widened with recognition. “More than a big deal! He's behind hundreds of bestseller romance novels. You’re working for _him_?” 

“Yup. And he’s already got me doing homework since I apparently know nothing about romance.” He looked up at Asahi. “Books. Romance books.” 

“What's the homework?” 

Nishinoya pulled up the list of books he’d copied onto his phone and handed it to Asahi. “Forty books, at least twenty-five of which I actually need to read. I just know it’s gonna take me ages to get through the whole thing.” 

“God... Yeah, this is a pretty long list.” He pointed to one of the titles. “Hirano Youta, huh? He’s one of my favorites.” 

Nishinoya looked at the list. “Oh, him? You know, I just learned about him today. I didn’t know he was such a big shot, either.” 

“Yeah, he’s pretty accomplished. That’s a good book, too. One of his best ones.” 

“Well, I guess I should make sure to read it. I should know who I’m working with, after all.” 

Asahi stopped walking. “You’re working with Hirano Youta, too?” 

“Oh, shit, maybe I wasn’t supposed to say that... Well, either way, Sawamura-san announced today that we’re working with him on his next novel. It won't be out for a while, though, so keep it secret!” 

“That--that’s incredible!” Asahi was astonished. “You should be proud to be working with someone like that.” 

“Meh. I guess I’m just put off by the whole anonymous thing. I mean even mangakas who use a nickname still see their staff. But this guy just works on his own, refusing to let anyone see him? It's like, ‘what’s he hiding,’ you know?” 

Asahi frowned. “Well, writing can be really intimidating. When you write, you pour all of your emotions and struggles out onto the page. It’s a very vulnerable thing. It makes sense for someone to shy away from attaching their face to their words, especially if they’re drawing from their own experiences. It’s like sharing your diary with the whole world.” 

“I guess. Never really thought about it like that,” Nishinoya said. “Are you a writer, Asahi-san? That sounded like it came from the heart.” 

“Oh, no. No, I don’t write... like that. I guess I just really sympathize with people like Hirano-sensei.” 

“Well, that’s good. You must be a good person, then, to sympathize with a stranger like that.” 

Asahi gave a pleasant smile, some warmth reaching his cheeks despite the cool evening temperature. “He's doesn't feel like a stranger to me. But thank you, Nishinoya-san. I think you’re a good person, too.” 

“Oh no, I think I tricked you into liking me,” Nishinoya joked. “Sooner or later, you’ll realize it was all a façade. I’m kinda shitty sometimes.” 

“I don’t believe it. I think you’re genuinely a good guy. You’re very outgoing and friendly, for starters,” Asahi pointed out. “And you didn’t trick me into anything. I’ve come to like you on my own.” 

This time, it was Nishinoya who blushed.

"Oh! We're here," Asahi announced. As it turns out, they had made it to the diner among all their talking. "I forgot how close it was." 

"Well, that's good. I'm starving. Come on!" 

They entered and were met with a comforting energy. The diner was warmly lit with homey overhead lights that cast a nice glow on each table they hovered over. It was a small place, but it was at basically maximum capacity, filled with plenty of chatter and laughter. As he followed the friendly staff to their table, Nishinoya took note of the types of people who were dining. Two parents and their young daughter. Three teenage boys playing a handheld game. A lone businesswoman sipping at her drink while typing on her laptop. A college-aged couple who seemed to be nervous about eating together. Were they on their first date? Nishinoya stopped thinking about the other customers when they passed by the kitchen. The air immediately filled with the smell of freshly baked breadsticks and savory meats. Nishinoya was practically salivating as he finally ordered. 

Ultimately, dinner was pleasant. Unlike having lunch with Tanaka, who was a more gregarious guy, eating with Asahi was mostly filled with... well, eating. They carried their conversation into the diner and continued it as they ordered, but when their plates arrived, they were quick to occupy their mouths with food rather than words. They ate in comfortable silence. Nishinoya was content enough to eat his Margherita pizza as he stole occasional glances at the cute guy across the table. He didn’t need to talk. Asahi seemed to agree. Within an hour and a half, the two finished their meals, paid their checks, and left. 

They resumed talking on their way back to Les Palais, engaging in small talk once again. Nishinoya told Asahi more about his experience at work, going over all the first impressions he had made of his coworkers. He mentioned Sugawara and Yachi, and even the president, who he theorized might have some kind of dark side what with his tough appearance. Asahi was amused by this, but Nishinoya asserted that he was serious. 

Soon, they arrived at the apartment building, though, and stopped at Nishinoya’s door. 

“Thanks for inviting me out,” Asahi said. 

“No problem. I would’ve been lonely eating in such a cozy diner all on my own, anyway. So, thank you for curing me of my boredom _and_ my loneliness.” 

“It was my pleasure.” 

They stood there a moment, neither of the two knowing what to say next. Nishinoya began to look around, and Asahi scratched at the back of his neck. 

“So, whe--” 

“Well, I shou--” 

They both started at the same time. 

“Sorry, what were you going to say?” Asahi asked. 

“Don’t worry about it! What about you?” 

“Right. I was just going to say that I should be heading back to mine. It’s getting kind of late.” 

“Oh, wait! Before you do--” Nishinoya pulled his phone from his pocket. “Let’s exchange numbers.” 

Asahi held a look of surprise. 

“Just so I don’t have to run all the way upstairs if I need your help,” Nishinoya reasoned. “Or in case I need a friend to go to dinner with again.” 

Asahi relaxed and smiled. “Sure. Here.” He took Nishinoya’s phone and created a contact for himself. He then gave his phone over to Nishinoya. Nishinoya noted the hard protective case. Compared to the bare phone he possessed, he was impressed with the cautiousness. He quickly created a contact for himself, labeling it with his full name followed by a lightning bolt emoji. _For a little bit of spice._

“And there’s mine.” He returned the phone to Asahi. “Don’t be afraid to reach out to me too, by the way. I’m very resourceful, and I hardly have any plans that aren't work.” 

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Asahi chuckled. “Goodnight, Nishinoya-san.” 

“Goodnight, Asahi-san.” 

Nishinoya entered his apartment, slowly closing the door behind him. He smiled to himself as he looked at the contact in his phone. 

“Azumane Asahi” followed by a sun emoji and an up arrow. The best part was that unbeknownst to Nishinoya, he’d even taken a picture for the contact. 

Nishinoya stared at the selfie--slightly out of focus and at the worst possible angle--and grinned like an idiot. 

_Oh, I’m down bad._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading Chapter 3! I hope you enjoyed it and the copious amounts of dialogue in it. I swear I should just be a screenwriter instead because dialogue is my favorite thing to write... Anyway, I still have so many ideas for TMIB that I want to see come to life, so bear with me as I make them the best they can be. 
> 
> (Chapter title based on: _Brave New World_ by Aldous Huxley)
> 
> Feel free to follow me on  
> Tumblr: noyaspeach.tumblr.com  
> Twitter: @noyaspeach  
> (though I tend to be pretty inactive these days... follow me here if you'd prefer!)


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